Experimental study of separation behavior of two bodies in hypersonic flow

Abstract The separation behavior of two bodies was experimentally investigated in a shock tunnel. Simple-shaped bodies, including a cylinder, cube, and sphere, with a size of 3 or 5 mm were used as the test models. The two contact models with a plane-exposed configuration were mounted using a thin wire, and the separation behavior was observed and analyzed using the shadowgraph technique. The surface roughness effect on the separation of two spheres was also considered. Particularly, attention was given to the lateral velocity. It was found that the spheres had a constant final lateral velocity after the shock interaction, whereas the velocities of the cylinders and cubes were determined by the rotational motion of the body. Based on the experimental data, a reentry trajectory analysis was conducted using Monte Carlo simulation. The results showed large ground footprint and downrange differences depending on the characteristics of the body, implying the importance of separation behavior for a reentry analysis.